Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Saturday, 16 April 2011

RICS reports high interest in Scottish property as spring arrives

THE Scottish property market saw an increase in homes going up for sale, more enquiries from interested buyers and an increase in agreed sales last month - says the latest RICS UK housing market survey.

Scotland was the area of the UK which saw the biggest increase in property going on the market in March, while some parts of the UK including London and Wales saw a drop.

[Pictured: RICS Scotland director Graeme Hartley.]

Scotland also had the biggest increase in inquiries from potential purchasers, while the north of England and Midlands saw a drop.

Just 4% of chartered surveyors in Scotland said house prices had fallen in March. 78% said they had stayed the same and 17% said they had risen. In London, 37% saw prices increase.

While caution about the overall outlook for the economy and the prospect of future interest rate hikes are compounding the difficulties over access to mortgage finance for many first-time buyers, this does not seem to be having as much impact on the Scottish property as other parts of the UK.

However chartered surveyors in Scotland are predicting that sales will remain pretty flat in the coming months or only rise modestly. They also report that the reluctance of vendors to further lower their price remains a stumbling block to some would-be buyers.

RICS Scotland director Graeme Hartley commented: “Scotland’s housing market is a very different picture to the rest of the UK, where many parts are suffering from a lack of buyers and sellers. Scotland is seeing a typical rise in buyers and sellers now that spring is here, but chartered surveyors are reporting that sales will remain flat or only rise modestly in coming months.”

RICS housing market survey is the longest running monthly survey of house prices in the UK, collecting data since January 1978. The survey is cited by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee at its monthly interest rate setting meetings.

About RICS Scotland

RICS Scotland is a national association of RICS. RICS Scotland has over 11,000 members.

Managed from its offices in Edinburgh, the focus of RICS Scotland is to develop, maintain, uphold and promote the standards, knowledge and skills of its members, always acting in the public interest.

RICS Scotland enjoys a degree of autonomy due to differences in Scottish law and practice. It holds a significant role within the professional and business community in Scotland, working with central and local government and educational institutions in Scotland.

THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).